Cleland Wildlife Park
Tucked into the Mount Lofty Ranges just 16 km from the CBD, Cleland Wildlife Park lets you walk freely among kangaroos and wallabies, hold a koala for a photo (one of the few legally sanctioned places in SA to do so) and spot wombats, emus and echidnas without a fence between you. It's the most accessible native-wildlife experience in South Australia.
The animals and the experience
The free-roaming kangaroo and wallaby paddocks are the centrepiece — buy a small bag of feed at the gate and within seconds you'll have a grey kangaroo eating from your palm. The resident mob is relaxed and accustomed to visitors, making close-up photography effortless even for children.
Koala encounters run daily at 11 am, 2 pm and 3:30 pm and cost an additional $26 per person on top of entry. Rangers bring a koala to a designated area, explain the animal's biology and ecology, and allow a supervised hold and photo. Numbers are capped, so book online in advance.
Beyond the animals
The park sits inside Cleland Conservation Park, so the surrounding bushland is genuine Adelaide Hills habitat — listen for laughing kookaburras and superb fairy-wrens in the understorey. A network of short walking trails loops through the property and connects to longer Mount Lofty trails.
The on-site café serves decent pies, sandwiches and cold drinks. Pack a picnic if you plan to stay most of the day — the sheltered picnic tables near the wetland area are a lovely lunch spot.
Cleland Wildlife Park on video
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